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Parkland Fuel Corporation, North America's fastest growing distributor and marketer of fuels and lubricants, today announced the appointment of Domenic Pilla to Parkland's Board of Directors; Mr. Pilla will join Parkland's Board effective immediately. Mr. Pilla most recently served as President and CEO of Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's leading pharmacy and beauty retailer, with sales of over US$11 billion, and more than 52 000 employees across 1400 retail locations.
"Mr. Pilla's experience as a senior corporate executive, including his background in all aspects of petroleum downstream operations, refining, supply, retail and marketing will add considerable value and additional depth of perspective to Parkland's Board of Directors," said Jim Pantelidis, Chairman of the Board. "His experience in mergers and acquisitions, most recently evidenced by his leadership in the sale of Shoppers Drug Mart to Loblaw Companies is also a significant asset to Parkland and its Board. We are confident that Parkland and its shareholders will benefit greatly from his experience and are pleased to welcome him to the board."
Mr. Pilla began his career at Petro Canada where he worked for almost 20 years in various roles from engineering to marketing, culminating in his appointment as Vice President Refining and Marketing for Canada. From Petro Canada, Mr. Pilla went on to RNG Canada and then to McKesson Canada where he was President of both organisations. In his role as President and CEO of Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation, Mr. Pilla drove a significant improvement in financial performance via a number of initiatives ranging from customer strategy and employee engagement to stakeholder relations and organisation effectiveness. Mr. Pilla also led the recent sale of Shoppers Drug Mart to Loblaw Companies Limited.
Mr. Pilla earned his Honours Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from McGill University. Mr. Pilla is actively involved in the community as: Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Cancer Research Society; a member of the Ivey Council for Health Innovation and Leadership; and Governor of the Marie-Clarac Hospital Foundation.
Adapted from press release by Joe Green
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/06012015/parkland-fuel-corporation-today-announced-appointment-domenic-pilla-board-directors-29/


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Dockless bike fleets have grown 12% since last year. There are now 90,000 dockless bikes in total which nearly matches the 100,000 station-based bikes dotted across the 33 cities considered in the report.
Fluctuo CEO Julien Chamussy told Zag Daily that the last 12 months have seen a shift in how operators have advocated for dockless bikes.
“A year ago, scooter operators were still reluctant to push dockless bikes because the unit economics are not as good as they are for scooters – bikes are more expensive to purchase and more difficult to operate.
“This has changed. In some cases, it was because the city gave them no choice if they wanted to stay in the city. Take Paris, for example.”
Indeed, dockless bike ridership doubled in Paris in September 2023 – the first month the French capital’s e-scooter ban took effect. Meanwhile scooters saw a ridership reduction of 14% across Europe since this time last year.
At 1.4 million trips, Paris saw the second-highest average number of trips taken per month by dockless bike in Q3 2023. At 3.9 million trips, it ranked first for the number of trips taken by station-based bikes.
“When it comes to transport, Paris has been one of the most forward-thinking cities over the last 5 to10 years and despite the recent scooter ban the city is dead-set on reducing private car use,” Julien said.
“Operators Dott, Lime and Tier have been asked to remove all their scooters by the end of August but, at the same time, they have been encouraged to double down on dockless bikes. The fleet of dockless bikes has reached 18,000 vehicles, which is almost the size of Velib’, the official station-based bike-sharing scheme.”
“The 2024 Olympic Games take place next year, and with the difficulties they are facing in ramping up the Vélib’ service, Paris will definitely count on these dockless bikes to enable athletes, delegates and tourists to move throughout the city.
“Parisians are no strangers to bikes, and their success is ensured for the foreseeable future.”
Shared car ridership
“What surprised us most was the continued growth of shared car fleets and their ridership,” Julien said. “For the other modes, we were just confirming what a lot of us thought.”
Over the last 12 months shared car ridership grew by 22% with Berlin and Hamburg boasting the top average trips per month at 600,000 and 350,000 trips respectively.
While German cities continue to dominate the rankings, Madrid ranked the third highest for shared car trips at 325,000 per month.
“Shared cars have struggled to grow beyond Germany and some other major cities in the past – but we are now seeing that the demand is there, and that their popularity will improve as long as the right incentives are brought in for users and operators,” Julien said.
Examples of these incentives include free parking for shared electric cars in Madrid, and elevated parking fees for private car parking in city centres.
Julien also looks to the next quarter for micromobility.
“Winter is always an uncertain time for operators. Some services go into hibernation, rides drop, and revenue decreases. The financial uncertainty surrounding some operators will become more apparent, and this is when we expect the market consolidation process to accelerate.”
Julien’s eye is now firmly on Brussels which recently saw a tender to reduce the number of e-scooters in the Belgian capital’s over-saturated market.
“What is certain is that we expect ridership to be consistent with last year in most cities, save the ones that have had shake-ups due to fleet reductions like Rome and Helsinki. Everyone is watching Brussels. That tender is now of significant importance for scooter operators after the ban in Paris.”

domain: news


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Only one out of every odd development in electric-vehicle innovation happens inside the clean quiet of an examination research center. BMW AG, Volkswagen AG's Audi and a Silicon Valley-based battery producer are helping push the limits by dashing battery-controlled vehicles through Saudi Arabia, New York, London and Seoul at speeds beating 170 mph (270 kph). Leaps forward made by rivals in Formula E, which started its 6th season this week, are being fused into family SUVs and vehicles — and even India's electric rickshaws — as producers try to improve and broaden their electric lineups while countries bit by bit eliminates gas guzzlers. All the more dominant batteries and better engines, vitality the board programming and stopping mechanisms are for the most part being moved from the circuit to the showroom.
"What we are doing in Formula E is exceptionally significant back out and about," said Dilbagh Gill, CEO and group head of India's Mahindra Racing, a unit of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. "We can come in and help them promptly in improving the item."
Recipe E, which started in 2014 with an "E-Prix" in Beijing, has 12 groups, practically all of which include automakers creating or creating battery-fueled vehicles for customers —, for example, Nissan Motor Co. furthermore, Tata Motors Ltd's. Volkswagen's Porsche and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand are new members in the 14-race season that opened Friday in Saudi Arabia. The timetable goes through July, closing with the two-day London E-Prix.
Briton Alexander Sims dashes with BMW I Andretti Motorsport won Saturday's race on the edges of the Saudi capital Riyadh, with his German colleague Maximilian Guenther coming in second. Last season's boss was DS Techeetah, the Chinese-possessed group of PSA Group's DS Automobiles. Its DS E-Tense FE20 machine can quicken from zero to 100 kph (62 mph) in 2.8 seconds. DS Automobiles is taking the power train — parts including the engine and inverter — from its Formula E section and putting it inside an idea vehicle called the DS X E-Tense. It additionally will utilize the equivalent working programming over its arranged scope of electric traveler vehicles.
PSA Group, additionally home to the Peugeot and Citroen brands, is focusing on a completely electric armada by 2025.
Tags : car, london, vehicle, electric, race,


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Casting Jewelry That Tells a Story
In the 22 years that Wade and Danielle Papin have owned Vancouver-based Pyrrha, the husband-and-wife jewelry-design team has never focused on creating perfectly polished trinkets. That, says Danielle Papin, is the opposite of what they have in mind. “We feel strongly about giving that sense to the customers that their piece was made by hand.”
Pyrrha’s line of talisman charms, necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings has a rustic quality that is intentional and popular — thousands of pieces sell each year. Originally launched as a temporary collection, the talismans have now been part of Pyrrha’s repertoire for about 12 years.
Read full article on medium.com.


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January 31, 2014
Tennessee is one step closer to permitting the sale of wine by grocery stores and other food retailers, despite some dissent from local lawmakers
A bill allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores, big box stores and convenience stores passed the Tennessee Senate Thursday in a 23-8 vote
© 2014 Wine Communications Group - all rights reserved.
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If you are tired of ads that appear on your Facebook or Instagram feeds, in the news feed of your pages, in applications shopping sectionsor on the screen behind your eyes while you sleep (not really, but you can bet it’s coming eventually), get ready because it’s introducing new ways to get advertisers eyeballs when using Meta apps.
Tuesday blog post, the company announced that it is testing new ways for companies globally to advertise with its short-form video format, Reels. Meta said they’ve begun initial testing of four to 10-second skippable videos that play after the Reel ends. The reels are designed to loop, so the video will restart after the ad ends. Meta said that these “post-loop” ads will start specifically on Facebook, but if successful, the system could easily move to Instagram.
In addition, the tech giant said they will begin testing ads that will run horizontally at the bottom of Facebook Reels, which contain between two and 10 scrollable images. With Instagram, Meta wrote that it happened Increase the number of ads in the search tab, will cause sponsored posts to appear in a mosaic of images within different topic trends. Previously, ads were only shown in the Explore feed. The social media giant also mentioned that it is testing ads in some prolific users’ feeds after a user clicks on a post on their profile page.
The company said it wants to offer “the same personalized ad experience they use on their main Instagram feeds” with these custom profile page ads. In an email statement, Meta told Gizmodo that while profile ads appear on all public, non-teen profiles, a small test group It is located in the United States creators will so that they can get some money back for allowing ads to play on their page in the future. Creators who already have access to Instagram’s monetization tools can join, though the company added “we expect that the revenue that creators can earn from profile feed ads will be supplemental rather than a significant source of revenue.”
According to the company, the only way to opt out of profile ads is to make the account private.
Ads playing at the end of videos are nothing new, but in short form videos that are often designed to be watched multiple times, it can make more people find the whole “Reels” even more unpleasant than before. TikTok also includes short video ads in the feed, branded hashtag calls, and on the For You page. On the ByteDance-owned platform, ads often appear between videos after you’ve scrolled through them a certain number of times, but not as long as the video has had time to loop.
Although the meta hints at it Q2 earnings report Since last July, Reels claimed a 30% increase in engagement on Facebook and Instagram, the latest reports based on internal Meta documents from August The reels have very little contact. According to the leaked documents, compared to its main competitor for short video content, TikTok, the total daily watch hours for Reels is insignificant compared to their total app users. For its part, Meta has claimed that the numbers in the report are outdated and incorrect compared to existing engagement data, although they have yet to reveal any new data that could prove Reels’ success.
It was Meta’s own Q2 earnings that showed the company had 1% reported a decrease in income for the first time in the company’s history. Marketers were spending less on advertising on Meta products including Facebook, Instagram and Whats App. according to Investopedia97% of Meta’s total quarterly revenue comes from advertising, according to past quarterly earnings reports.
So it makes sense why the social media giant is going out of its way to sue advertisers. Another tool it provides is the addition of free songs from the music collection to the ad manager to help companies create more video ads. This will allow advertisers to choose a song to play over short video ads, or for the app to algorithmically choose a song based on the content of the ad.
There’s a segment of Instagram’s audience that looks back fondly on the days before ads were rolled out on the app. In the word “OG App” quickly gained popularity last month by removing ads and suggested posts from users’ Instagram feeds. Although the app was later targeted by Meta and removed from the iOS App Store, it is still available on Google Play.


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The Gymboree Corporation announced that, following a comprehensive evaluation of its retail footprint as part of its previously announced court-supervised financial restructuring, the company intends to close approximately 350 stores, mainly across the Gymboree and Crazy 8 brands. With the right size store base, the company will be able to focus resources on locations with the greatest potential and improve the profitability of the overall business.
“[This] announcement represents the next step in the company’s court-supervised financial restructuring as we work to more strongly position the business for long-term growth and success,” said Daniel Griesemer, President and CEO of Gymboree. “Right-sizing our store footprint is a central part of our efforts to ensure Gymboree emerges from this restructuring process as a stronger and more competitive organization, with greater financial flexibility to invest in our future. Importantly, we will continue to operate a majority of our stores and will continue to deliver quality merchandise and superior service to our customers at our Gymboree, Janie and Jack and Crazy 8 brands. This was a difficult decision to make, but we are confident that it is in the best long-term interest of our Company, our customers and our broader employee base. I am deeply grateful to our team, their exceptional ongoing dedication and their focus on continuing to put our customers at the center of all we do.”
In order to ensure a seamless experience for customers, the company has partnered with Great American Group and Tiger Group to help manage the closing sales in its Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet and Crazy 8 stores. The closing sales at affected stores are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, July 18.
As announced on June 11, 2017, Gymboree signed a Restructuring Support Agreement with a majority of its Term Loan Lenders, securing critical stakeholder support for a comprehensive financial restructuring and recapitalization that is being facilitated through a voluntary Chapter 11 filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.


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The Nokia flagship store in Shangai, China has received its second batch of Lumia 920 stock. Now one would think that the second number of units would sell comfortably, but the Nokia store has already sold out on the yellow variant in just 20 minutes. This is yet more news of the Lumia 920 not meeting consumer demand.
The Lumia 920 was made available at the Shangai Nokia store earlier this month, and we covered some photos that were published showing large consumer interest with many queueing up to get their hands on the flagship Windows Phone. Previously, the first batch of stock lasted only 2 hours, so the 20 minutes is quite an improvement, or the number of units available second time round was less.
China is an important market for any manufacturer, not to mention the platform smartphones will be powering. Windows Phone has broken into China quickly, as shown in recent Kantar data. This was also the case with the Lumia 800, which launched in the country earlier this year. In fact, it was reported that the Lumia 800 overtook the iPhone with regards to marketshare. Who would have though, eh?
Crowd gathering for first batch of Lumia 920s at the Shangai store
Microsoft currently owns just 3% of the smartphone market in China (according to Kantar data), and with Lumia Windows Phones appearing to sell like hotcakes it paints a positive picture for 2013. Huawei is expected to unveil its Ascend W1 Windows Phone at CES 2013, which will then be unleashed in several markets, including Asia.
We still wait on exact sales figures for the Lumia 920, but from what's been reported in multiple markets, we'll be betting that a fair few have been shipped but it could well be that Nokia just hasn't been able to produce enough.
via: Nokia Power User; thanks, sunny, for the tip!
Destiny 2 beginner's guide: How to get into Destiny in 2020
Destiny 2 and all of its expansions are now available through Xbox Game Pass, but it's quite a daunting title to dive into. Here's a detailed guide on everything you should know (and do) in order to properly jump in.
5 Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda crossovers we'd love to see
Now that Microsoft has acquired ZeniMax Media, it's now very possible for crossovers to occur between Xbox and Bethesda franchises. Here are some of the ones we want to see the most.
Windows 10 preview build 20221 now rolling out to the Insider Dev Channel
Another week, another Windows 10 Insider Preview build for those in the Dev Channel to get their hands on. Today's build is 20221, and features a notable change to the taskbar that makes it easy to create a Meet Now session in Skype.
These are the best motherboards for AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
The Ryzen 9 3900X is a cracking CPU, allowing you to do pretty much everything on your PC. From video editing and intense gaming to enthusiast leaderboard competitions, this processor can almost do it all. So long as you pair it with one of these motherboards.


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Mulaka is coming this year to Asia!
We’ve been cooking this for a while, and it’s finally time to announce that Mulaka is coming to Asian markets later this year! Mulaka will be published by Intragames, a Korean publisher of various titles ranging from indie to AAA, and will be releasing on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
Our friends at Intragames have been wonderful partners and are translating all of the game’s texts into Korean, Japanese, and Chinese for the enjoyment of the Asian market. In addition, a physical edition of the game will be available for the PlayStation 4 in Korea. More details will be announced at a later date.
Thank you for your continuous support! We hope that the Asian market enjoys Mulaka as much as you did, and it goes without saying that we’ve achieved this thanks to your support.
On behalf of everyone at Lienzo,
PR & Publishing Manager


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Bosch will install wireless charging stations for $3k a pop for Leaf, Volt owners
Bosch Automotive Service's installation of the 240-volt station, which will be made by Evatran, will include a wall unit, floor charger and vehicle adopter. The system allows wireless "induction" charging between a floor pad and a vehicle adapter. Bosch Power Max recently announced a conventional home charging system that costs $449. Bosch says it's developing wireless charging systems for other models as well, and is offering financing options that stretch for as far as five years.
Since early last year, Evatran has been joining up with public and private partners to get its Plugless Power wireless some notoriety. Last September, it reached an agreement with both Google and the Los Angeles Deptartment of Water and Power to test the wireless charging systems.
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- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Lantana retail center first of kind to sell in 2012
- Staff South Florida Business Journal
The Shoppes of Sherbrooke in Lantana is the first retail center sale this year, according to The Palm Beach Post.
The 62,000-square-foot center at the intersection of Lantana Road and Lyons Road sold for $10.5 million in late April, up from the $6.8 million it was bought for in 2008. The property is anchored by LA Fitness.
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Peyton Manning’s baseball-related investment in $1.5 billion company can make him a very rich man
Peyton Manning has amassed a massive amount of wealth through his NFL stint. Moreover, his net worth might spike even further because of a baseball-related investment.
Peyton Manning is a name to reckon with in the world of the NFL. Nicknamed “The Sheriff,” Peyton achieved a lot in his almost two decade long career.
Although he was with the Broncos for four years, the 14-year stint he had with the Indianapolis colts really established him as one of greats of the game.
The two-time Super Bowl champion was also showered with heaps of cash in his career. Named the most valuable player of the league on record five occasions, Manning currently has a massive net worth of $250 million.
Moreover, apart from the money he made by playing in the NFL, Peyton has also earned big through all the brands he has been associated with.
Peyton Manning seems to have a lot of expectations from the sports NFT market
As it turns out, his net worth might boom once again and reach great heights because of the investment he made last year. As reported by CNBC, an NFT company named Candy Digital raised as much as $100 million from a number of influential investors and organizations.
Peyton Manning was among the ones who showed faith in the company. Candy Digital gained enormous success with the NBA product and their vision has been to replicate the magic with MLB.
Reportedly, the MLB gave their entire digital catalogue to Candy Digital paving the way to the creation of rare collectible NFTs of all time greats.
The product is innovative and has got immense potential as in super quick time, the world has moved leaps and bounds in terms of technology. This is probably why Manning went ahead and invested in this NFT-related venture that is already valued at $1.5 billion.
Peyton has been involved with a number of brands like Nike, Gatorade, MasterCard, Direct TV and more throughout his career. In fact, he also owned 31 outlets of famous pizza chain called Papa John’s at one time.
However, just before NFL ended its partnership with the pizza restaurant chain, Manning sold all of the Papa John’s establishments.
As far as Peyton’s investment in Candy Digital is concerned, it seems to be a massively promising one. Although the sports NFT market has just started, it has already achieved great heights and is expected to rake in even more profits in the future.


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US publishing and financial information firm Dow Jones is the latest high-profile company to admit being hit by a data breach, which security experts say goes hand in hand with fraud.
The firm said the breach is believed to be part of a broader campaign involving a number of other companies, and appeared to target contact information of current and former subscribers.
Dow Jones said payment card information may also have been accessed for fewer than 3,500 customers – but added there is no direct evidence the information was stolen.
Law enforcement officials informed the company of the breach in late July 2015. A subsequent investigation found unauthorised access had taken place between August 2012 and July 2015.
“To date, our extensive review has not uncovered any direct evidence that information was stolen, and we have taken steps to stop the unauthorised access,” Dow Jones chief executive William Lewis said in a letter to customers.
“We devote substantial resources to cyber security and we want to assure you that we are taking additional steps to further fortify our systems,” he said.
Lewis said Dow Jones would send a letter to all those affected by the breach with more information about the support the company is offering.
The company said customers should be on the look out for suspicious emails and avoid calls or emails asking for personal information.
Fraud and data theft
Ken Westin, senior security analyst at Tripwire, said fraud is a key driver of data breaches.“The number of large data breaches we see every day proves the link between these two crimes,” he said.
According to Westin, the rise of underground markets, where hackers and fraudsters engage in commerce with one another, has created a black market economy that generates demand for personal information.
“The power of the internet continues to strengthen the links between these two types of crimes, allowing both to become more lucrative,” he said.
Westin said personal information is harvested from businesses that collect and store it, but the initial breach is usually just the beginning of a long fraud campaign that could last years.
Read more about data breaches
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- Most large enterprises already know much of what they need to put in place to protect themselves against data breaches – they just have not done it all.
“All financial services businesses are hot targets for cyber crime and fraud because their customers are more likely to be wealthy, and therefore be more lucrative targets,” he said.
The increasing number of high-profile data breaches is leading to fears that businesses lack the ability to detect cyber crime quickly enough, a recent survey found.
According to the survey, by endpoint protection specialist Bit9 + Carbon Black, consumers in Britain are increasingly concerned there are many data breaches companies have yet to discover.
The researchers surveyed more than 2,000 UK adults and found that high-profile security breaches – such as the leaking of the personal details of around 32 million members of cheating site Ashley Madison – have led to increased fear of data breaches among the public. The survey found 81% of people worry cyber criminals might already have stolen their personal data without anyone noticing.
According to PwC’s Global State of Information Security Survey 2016, UK companies are not yet on top of cyber security incidents or their causes.
Nearly 10% of UK companies do not know how many cyber security attacks they had in the past year and 14% do not know how they happened, the survey revealed.
Data breaches are becoming increasingly common among private companies and government organisations.
In recent months, breaches have been announced by Experian, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Department of Energy in the US. Elsewhere breaches were reported by Carphone Warehouse in the UK and David Jones in Australia.


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Genesis has announced the upcoming release of new vehicles. In fact, this week Genesis USA unveiled some impressive concept cars. Among them was the GV60Magma, a concept car that is expected to become a production car soon and will not be limited in quantity. Although no specifications on the GV60 Magma Concept have been released, it will likely use an upgraded battery and electric motor similar to the ones found in the Ioniq5 N and EV6 GT.
Another standout concept car was the G80MagmaSpecial, a sleek and powerful midsize gas-powered executive sedan that appears ready to compete with the likes of the Audi S6, BMW M550i, and Mercedes-AMG E53. While the company has not revealed many details about this vehicle, it is suspected that it will have a 3.5L Twin-Charged V6 engine, similar to the one found in the G90.
Although the company has not confirmed that this car will be available in the US, it may be sold through local Genesis dealerships, especially considering that it will be available in the Middle East. While it is too early to know what the official name of their Performance division will be, we do know that Magma is simply a concept for now and that the name for the upcoming high-performance Genesis models has not yet been finalized.
Photo Credit: Redline Reviews


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Husband and wife team launch new business Bespoke Blinds in Long Melford
- Credit: Archant
A Suffolk couple have launched a business selling and fitting window blinds, curtains and home furnishings.
Husband and wife team Monty and Helen Atherton opened the doors of their shop Bespoke Blinds on Hall Street in Long Melford earlier this month.
The pair have decided to start their own business after years in the world of work. Helen has 27 years experience working in the curtain department of homeware store Glasswells, mostly in the Bury St Edmunds branch, while Monty has held numerous senior positions within companies and has run several businesses.
He said: “Helen has the specific expertise and I have lots of varied business experience, so we think that is a good combination.”
Monty said the pair have spent time decorating and kitting out the shop to give it a “boutique and contemporary ” feel.
Visitors will be able to see an extensive range of curtain fabrics, soft furnishings and blind designs including some of the latest motorised blinds that can be controlled remotely and from a smart phone.
“From my experience, half of customers know exactly what they want and the other half want you to advise them,” said Helen.
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“I like nothing more than taking a range of samples to a customer’s home and helping them choose. And there is a lot of satisfaction when you see how pleased they are a month or so later when the curtains are in place.
“A well dressed window puts the finishing touch to a room.”
Helen says the shop is in a good location on Long Melford’s main thoroughfare and that they have had a lot of people drop in.
“We’ve had eight orders in the first eight days, which is a great start,” she added.


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Apple is seeking tariff waivers from the U.S. government for 11 of its Chinese-made products, which include its HomePod speakers, Apple Watches, iPhone battery cases and AirPods, Reuters reported.
Apple submitted requests to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on the first day it was able to do so, arguing these products aren’t strategically important to China’s “Made in China 2025” government-directed tech policies, Reuters said. Apple hopes to avoid a 15% tariff that went into effect Sept. 1, it added.
Apple has had mixed success seeking waivers from the U.S. for its Chinese-made products. In September, it got tariff waivers for partially assembled circuit boards and graphic cards for the Mac Pro, which allowed it to keep manufacturing the model in the U.S. However, in October it was denied exemptions on several Chinese-made components for the Mac Pro, including some circuit boards, cables and a power adapter.
As a result, it’s unclear how the Trump administration will come down on Apple’s request this time. On one hand, it might keep the tariffs in place to persuade Apple to move production out of China in the long run. On the other, it could grant waivers to help Apple keep prices low and minimize the impact to American consumers.


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It’s been nothing but damage control for Barneys since two black shoppers came forward last week claiming they were asked how they could afford such nice things. (One was arrested; both are suing.) Today, the store’s CEO Mark Lee, who is white, sat down with Al Sharpton to save face and shift blame. “Our preliminary investigation has concluded that in both of these instances no one from Barneys New York raised any issue with these purchases,” said Lee, according to the New York Post. “No one from Barneys brought them to the attention of our internal security and no one from Barneys reached out to external authorities.”
So you’re saying the NYPD stopped black people on a whim?
“I can only speak to what we know from the preliminary investigation,” Lee added. “We believe in the last week of our research that no Barneys employee was involved in these two instances.”
Sharpton was tentative in his reaction. “If, in fact, NYPD takes it upon themselves to profile, that needs to be dealt with by retailers,” he said. “If, in fact, there were rogue members in these department stores that have some collusion with members of NYPD that is not known to the heads of these companies, that ought to be dealt with by retailers.” The police have their own, not unrelated dealing to do.


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ACSI Commentary September 2012
Technology Innovation Plays Role in Stronger Customer Satisfaction for Durable Goods
Commentary on Major Appliances, Personal Computers, and Televisions & Video Players/Recorders
September 18, 2012
The sea change in consumer preferences continues for the personal computer business, with purchases of desktop PCs stalling due to the growth in demand for technologies with an emphasis on small and mobile. Products like new, ultrathin laptops, tablets, and smartphones are becoming increasingly capable of doing the vast array of tasks that people used to be tied to their desks to accomplish. Amid this shift, customer satisfaction with personal computers of all types (desktop, laptop, and tablet) gains 2.6% to an ACSI score of 80 (on a scale of 0 to 100), breaking the former high of 78 reached in each of the past two years. The improvement is driven, in part, by the higher levels of customer satisfaction that tablet PCs enjoy over desktops and laptops. As tablets gain market share, overall customer satisfaction with the PC industry picks up.
The shift away from traditional PCs should be beneficial for Apple. The company’s market share has grown considerably with its iPad products—from around 8% for the period between 2007 and 2009 to 12% in the past two years. Apple’s stock price, which has seen phenomenal growth over the past decade, has gained nearly 200% in just two years since the first iPad was released. This year, Apple maintains its customer satisfaction lead despite a slight dip of 1% to a score of 86. The company continues to outdistance all competition by a wide margin.
Nevertheless, Apple’s lead has narrowed, as the rest of the industry does better with the customers they are able to keep. Windows-based PC maker Dell advances 5% to second place with an ACSI score of 81. Still, the news for Dell is mixed as it comes at a time when the company’s market share is shrinking, principally in the consumer market. Dell’s PC shipments are down nearly 10% for Q2 2012 compared to the previous year and its stock price has plunged 25% over the same time period.
A similar phenomenon appears to be playing out for the other large Windows-based PC makers. Both Hewlett-Packard and Acer make small gains to ACSI scores of 79, but HP’s Q2 2012 shipments are down 13% while Acer’s fell 14%. HP’s stock has lost about half of its value over the past year. Toshiba rounds out the industry debuting at the bottom with a score of 77. Among the top five U.S. market-share leaders, Toshiba’s shipments have taken the biggest hit, down 20% from a year ago.
Meanwhile, the aggregate of smaller manufacturers (including tablet producers such as Samsung and Amazon) improves in both customer satisfaction and market share. The group’s ACSI score is up 4% since 2011 to 80 and its shipments have increased 12% over a year ago, besting even Apple’s 4% gain. What appears to be happening is that as the least satisfied customers of Dell, HP, and Acer (among others) defect to Apple and to the smaller brands (particularly tablet PC makers), customer satisfaction improves for all—both the companies that lose customers and those to whom these customers migrate.
Televisions & Video Players/Recorders
Customer satisfaction with televisions and Blu-ray Disc (BD) and DVD players remains among the highest of all industries covered by the ACSI. This year, the industry gains 1.2% to a score of 86, a new high for the category. Consumers seem quick to embrace the latest technologies, with flat-panel TVs now making up more than 90% of all sales. While prices have risen for higher-end TVs, such as those that offer 3D or Internet features, prices for smaller or more standard flat-panel TV sets continue to drop. Similarly, consumers are finding the latest DVD and BD players both more powerful and affordable, with the combination of higher quality and greater value for money creating a positive effect on customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction with major household appliances like washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ranges, and ovens is generally very stable. Since 1994, the industry’s ACSI score has been in the range of 80 to 82 for most years, despite changing economic conditions. In 2012, customer satisfaction with major appliances is flat at 81 amid continuing soft demand.
Among the largest appliance makers, Whirlpool consistently has been on top in both market share and customer satisfaction, holding at least a share of the ACSI lead each year since 1996. For the current year, Whirlpool gains 1% to 83, narrowly topping AB Electrolux, which improves 5% to 82. General Electric also makes progress, up 1% to 80, but trails well behind Whirlpool. The only downturn in the category is for the aggregate of smaller manufacturers (including LG, Samsung, and Bosch), which plunges 5% to 79 and drops from the highest score among all brands a year ago to the industry basement. The culprit seems to be recent price hikes for these brands caused by increased import fees.


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Accelerate the pilot application of digital RMB!
Linden smart 9-15
Professional focus and win-win cooperation
In our daily life, the “cashless transaction” that can be completed through a mobile phone without wallet and paper money is quite common.
With the vigorous development of digital economy, the public’s demand for the security and privacy of payment means is increasing day by day. The white paper on the research and development progress of China’s digital RMB (hereinafter referred to as the white paper) issued by the digital RMB research and development working group of the people’s Bank of China points out that the central banks or monetary authorities of many countries and regions closely track the achievements of financial science and technology development and actively explore the digital form of legal tender. Legal tender is moving from theory to reality.
According to the latest survey report of the bank for International Settlements, about 86% of the central banks of 65 countries or economies have carried out digital currency research, and the number of central banks undergoing experiments or conceptual verification has increased from 42% in 2019 to 60% in 2020.
The people’s Bank of China (hereinafter referred to as the people’s Bank of China) also attaches great importance to the research and development of legal digital currency:
In 2014, the legal digital currency research group was established to start special research on the issuance framework, key technologies, issuance and circulation environment and relevant international experience;
In 2016, the digital currency Research Institute was established to complete the construction of the first generation prototype system of legal digital currency;
At the end of 2017, with the approval of the State Council, the people’s Bank of China began to organize commercial institutions to jointly carry out the research and development test of legal digital currency (hereinafter referred to as digital RMB).
Through the step-by-step strategy, China aims to create a new type of RMB in digital form for the purpose of meeting the public’s cash demand under the condition of digital economy, coupled with a financial infrastructure that supports the reliable, stable, fast, efficient, continuous innovation and open competition in the field of retail payment, so as to support the development of China’s digital economy and improve the development level of Inclusive Finance, Improve the operation efficiency of currency and payment system.
Specifically, the establishment of the digital RMB system is to enrich the cash forms provided by the central bank to the public, meet the public’s demand for digital cash, and help Inclusive Finance – the public without bank accounts can enjoy basic financial services through the digital RMB wallet, Overseas residents who come to China for a short time can open a digital RMB wallet without opening a bank account in mainland China to meet their daily payment needs in China.
Second, support fairness, efficiency and security in the field of retail payment. Digital RMB will provide the public with a new general payment method, improve the diversity of payment instruments and help to improve the efficiency and security of the payment system.
Third, actively respond to the initiatives of the international community and explore ways to improve cross-border payments. Digital RMB has the technical conditions for cross-border use. In the future, the people’s Bank of China will actively respond to the initiatives of the group of twenty (G20) and other international organizations to improve cross-border payment and study the applicability of the central bank’s digital currency in the cross-border field.
In terms of the progress of the establishment of the digital RMB system, the white paper shows that at present, the R & D test has basically completed the top-level design, function R & D, system commissioning and other work, and is following the principles of stability, safety, controllability, innovation and practicality to select some representative regions for pilot testing.
Let’s take a look at the recent new progress in the pilot and application of digital RMB
Quanyun village digital RMB scenario to achieve “multi-point coverage”
The digital RMB scene in the 14th National Games village has achieved “multi-point coverage”. So far, it has covered many key merchants in the athletes village, media reporters village and technical officials village. It is an important payment scene for the pilot work of digital RMB and provides conditions for promoting the construction of digital RMB scene.
Guangdong: promote Guangzhou’s pilot application for digital RMB
The notice of the people’s Government of Guangdong Province on printing and distributing the action plan of Guangdong Province to further promote the reform of market-oriented allocation of capital factors issued on September 14 points out that it supports Shenzhen to deepen the pilot of digital RMB application innovation of the central bank, timely apply to expand the scope of pilot cities, and promote Guangzhou’s application for digital RMB pilot work.
Shenzhen: take the lead in testing the use of digital RMB by Hong Kong residents in the mainland
The front page article of the people’s daily on the 13th, running out of the acceleration to a new level, revealed that Shenzhen took the lead in completing the test of the use of digital RMB for Hong Kong residents in the mainland, laying a practical foundation for promoting the cross-border circulation of digital RMB in Shenzhen and Hong Kong and solving the payment of current accounts such as cross-border tourism.
ICBC launches new digital RMB function
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has added new functions of “smart exchange” and “combined payment” to the digital RMB wallet of mobile banking app to solve the problem of excessive or insufficient wallet balance in the process of using digital RMB.
Beijing: steadily promote the whole scene pilot of digital RMB
On September 10, Lu Yingchuan, vice mayor of Beijing, said at the 2021 China (Beijing) digital finance forum that under the guidance of the central bank, Beijing will accelerate the construction of legal digital currency experimental area and digital financial system, and steadily promote the whole scene pilot of digital RMB. At the forum, the Beijing municipal financial regulatory bureau also awarded the “Beijing legal digital currency pilot zone” to Lize financial business district to create a digital RMB technology and application ecology.
Central Bank of China: steadily promote the research and development of digital RMB
Fan Yifei, vice governor of the Central Bank of China, said that the people’s Bank of China has steadily promoted the research and development of digital RMB and achieved phased results. At the same time, we also see that some problems need to be solved urgently, such as the digital RMB rule system needs to be improved, the acceptance environment needs to be optimized, the payment system needs to be improved, etc. In the next step, we will adhere to the principle of openness and inclusiveness, make efforts from both supply and demand, organize and continuously optimize the underlying business capacity and basic technology platform of digital RMB, actively empower foreign countries, and jointly build a digital RMB ecosystem.
Central bank Statistics Research Institute: actively explore the application of digital RMB blockchain
Di Gang, deputy director of the digital currency Research Institute of the people’s Bank of China, said that the digital currency research institute actively explored the application of digital RMB blockchain, built a unified distributed ledger based on blockchain at the issuance layer, and improved the reconciliation efficiency; At the same time, with the support of the innovation center of the bank for International Settlements, carry out the digital currency bridge project of multilateral central banks and explore the use of distributed ledger; At the same time, it has also built a trade finance blockchain platform and undertaken major special projects of national key R & D plans.
Visa and Bank of China will jointly customize digital RMB products for the Beijing Winter Olympics
Visa and Bank of China announced that they will jointly give full play to their global group advantages, contribute wisdom to the digital RMB services of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and winter Paralympic Games, customize suitable digital RMB products, and cooperate to complete the construction of acceptance environment of Winter Olympic venues.
Postal savings bank pilot digital RMB foreign currency exchange machine
Many banks are exploring the foreign currency exchange of digital RMB. The digital RMB foreign currency exchange machine launched by the postal savings bank can automatically identify more than 180 denominations and versions of foreign currencies, and realize the self-service opening of digital RMB wallets, self-service sales of hard wallets, and self-service exchange from foreign currencies to digital RMB. At present, the machine has not been put into operation, and relevant businesses are under pilot.
Li Lihui, former president of Bank of China: the underlying technology and operation system of digital RMB are relatively mature
Li Lihui, former president of the Bank of China, believes that the gradual transition from the previously relatively independent “single point” pilot mode to the multi place linkage “regional network” pilot mode means that the underlying technology and operation system of digital RMB have reached the basic requirements of medium-sized and reliable operation. The intensive pilot of digital RMB in traffic scenarios shows that the underlying technology and operation system of digital RMB are relatively mature and are entering a new stage from focusing on experience coverage in the early stage to testing depth in the medium term.
The first full process digital RMB tax payment business in China has been completed
The whole process from tax payment to Treasury warehousing and reconciliation was successfully realized in Dalian through digital RMB circulation, which is also the first digital RMB online tax payment business in China. The application of digital RMB in the field of taxes and fees solves the problem that when a large amount of taxes cannot be paid online, you need to go to the tax authority to print the bank to query the payment voucher, and then go to the bank to pay taxes, as well as the problem that individual industrial and commercial households need change when paying taxes in cash.
Shanghai launches key experimental blocks of digital RMB
Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce has sorted out the first batch of 24 key projects of digital transformation in the business field, including the “key experimental block of digital RMB on Nanjing West Road”, which aims to build a “new retail test field” and form a benchmark scene of digital business district.
Meituan launched the pilot of digital RMB low-carbon travel
On September 9, meituan announced to launch the pilot activity of digital RMB low-carbon travel in many places across the country.
Shenzhen: To explore digital RMB + charity
On September 8, the notice of Shenzhen Civil Affairs Bureau on Soliciting Opinions on the 14th five year plan for the development of Shenzhen Civil Affairs (Draft for comments) was issued, proposing to explore the scenario application of digital RMB in the field of charity; Develop digital RMB related lottery purchase payment and small prize cashing methods.
The first pension service scenario of digital RMB landed**
The smart chest card displayed at the insurance digital RMB booth of 2021 service trade fair is a new pension business jointly carried out by Bank of China Digital RMB and China Unicom smart chest card, which integrates a variety of service functions such as digital RMB micro payment, emergency call, electronic fence, track query and so on.
The first digital RMB exchange machine will serve the Beijing Winter Olympic Games
The world’s first digital RMB exchange machine was displayed at the Bank of China booth of 2021 service trade fair, which can directly convert 17 mainstream foreign currencies into digital RMB. The staff said that this digital RMB exchange machine will appear in the Winter Olympics. Foreign athletes can easily use digital RMB for consumption without opening a bank account. At present, the digital RMB Winter Olympics support scene with Shougang Park as the core and key business districts and tourist attractions as the radiation is accelerating the expansion.
Southwest University of Finance and economics officially launched the digital RMB campus scene
At present, the digital RMB campus scenario application has been officially launched in Southwest University of Finance and economics, and the project implementation and pilot preparation have been completed in some universities in many places.
Jinjiang Hotel app took the lead in completing the online payment scenario of digital RMB overseas hotels
Jinjiang wehotel and industrial and Commercial Bank of China jointly carried out digital RMB payment business, successfully launched its Jinjiang Hotel app, effectively covered more than 20 brands of Jinjiang International in the first batch, and took the lead in completing the implementation of online payment scenarios for overseas hotels, so as to achieve a breakthrough in the application of digital RMB in the hotel industry.
China Telecom wing payment online digital RMB Wallet
On September 7, the digital RMB wallet application of China Telecom wing payment in cooperation with Bank of China was launched. The user can open the digital RMB wallet with one click in the wing payment app. After passing the real name authentication and binding the bank card, the user can carry out bank deposit, currency exchange, transfer and other operations through digital RMB.
Digital RMB has supported inter provincial payment of electricity charges
On September 6, the online state grid “cloud terminal” successfully launched the digital RMB inter provincial electricity payment function. With the strong support of the State Grid e-commerce company, the digital RMB inter provincial electricity payment function was successfully realized. This means that all power users across the country can use digital RMB to pay electricity charges for accounts in any part of the country through online state grid cloud terminals.
Bank of communications takes digital RMB as the starting point to promote the development of Changsha modern cultural industry system
At the “three highs and four innovations” strategy and investment environment (Shanghai) promotion conference in Changsha on September 6, Bank of communications signed the “14th five year plan” cooperation framework agreement with Changsha municipal government. In the next stage, digital RMB will be used as the starting point to actively promote the development of modern cultural industry system in Changsha.
People’s Bank of China: successfully landing 345000 digital RMB Winter Olympics scenes
On September 6, the business management department of the people’s Bank of China issued the opinions on financial support for Beijing’s green, low-carbon and high-quality development. Yang Weizhong, Secretary of the Party committee and director of the business management department of the people’s Bank of China, revealed that the business management department of the people’s Bank of China earnestly implemented the work deployment of the Beijing Municipal Party committee and government, steadily promoted the digital RMB pilot, and successfully implemented 345000 digital RMB Winter Olympics scenes, Achieve full coverage of seven major scenarios such as transportation and travel.
People’s Daily: Digital RMB further helps inclusive financial services
While meeting the public’s demand for legal currency in digital form, digital RMB will further help inclusive financial services. Digital RMB is conducive to further reducing the threshold for the public to obtain financial services. The public without a bank account can enjoy basic financial services through the digital RMB wallet. The characteristics of “payment is settlement” and low cost are also conducive to enterprises and relevant parties to improve capital turnover efficiency and further reduce payment costs while enjoying payment convenience.
Suzhou and Bank of China comprehensively deepen cooperation in the pilot of digital RMB**
On September 5, Suzhou municipal government and Bank of China signed a strategic cooperation agreement to comprehensively deepen cooperation in digital RMB pilot and other fields.
Beijing Expressway will support digital RMB charging
On September 5, at the Shougang Park venue of 2021 service trade fair, the first group signed strategic cooperation agreements with six banks including industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Beijing Branch, and reached a consensus on the in-depth cooperation of digital RMB in key business areas such as highways. Next, the first group will accelerate the implementation and application of digital RMB in scenarios such as highway toll collection.
Beijing Daily: Digital RMB operating institutions present a “6 + 2 + 1” pattern
According to the Beijing Daily, at present, the digital RMB operation organization presents a “6 + 2 + 1” pattern, that is, six state-owned banks of industry, agriculture, China Construction, transportation and postal savings, two private banks of e-commerce bank and Weizhong bank, and China Merchants Bank, a newly joined joint-stock commercial bank.
Qingdao: a big breakthrough in digital RMB
Qingdao has made great breakthroughs in the development of digital RMB scene, personal wallet and characteristic scene. As of early May this year, Qingdao had opened 850900 digital wallets, and 121200 digital RMB payment application scenarios had been implemented, with a total of 680100 transactions and a transaction amount of 923 million yuan.
Qingdao: steadily and carefully promote the pilot of digital RMB
At a series of press conferences on the interpretation of Qingdao’s “14th five year plan” special planning policies, Qingdao local financial regulatory bureau revealed that according to Qingdao’s “14th five year plan” financial industry development plan, it will steadily and carefully promote the pilot of digital RMB and accelerate the construction of digital financial infrastructure.
Suzhou: “coin self-service exchange machine” supports digital RMB exchange
52 “coin self-service exchange machines” in Suzhou have opened the exchange link between digital RMB and coins. Citizens can exchange back and out of digital RMB and coins at the self-service exchange machine at the acceptance point according to the operation instructions of the electronic display screen.
Ministry of industry and information technology: smart contract will promote the innovation of digital RMB business model
Chen Xiaohua, a major project review expert of the industrial Internet blockchain of the Ministry of industry and information technology, said that the rational use of smart contracts will greatly promote the innovation of digital RMB business model. Digital RMB is programmable through smart contract, which enables digital RMB to be flexibly used in a variety of environments and relationships on the premise of compliance and according to the conditions agreed by both parties. More and more small and medium-sized banks such as urban commercial banks and rural commercial banks accelerate their entry into the digital RMB application pilot, which will provide more test scenarios for the promotion of the digital RMB pilot, and further optimize the issuance and clearing efficiency of digital RMB in various regions.
Thanks to the wide adoption of electronic payment by consumers, the almost “cashless” social environment and extensive mobile coverage, digital RMB has been continuously promoted at the policy and pilot levels. According to the analysis and forecast report on China’s macroeconomic situation in the first quarter of 2021 released by the research group of the Institute of higher studies of Shanghai University of Finance and economics, it is expected that the digital RMB is expected to be officially launched nationwide after the test of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
This brings new development opportunities to blockchain technology. The digital RMB system adopts distributed and platform design. At some specific levels, the blockchain can cooperate with other technologies to produce good results.
Mu Changchun, director of the digital currency Research Institute of the people’s Bank of China, said that blockchain has the advantages of non tampering and traceability of data, and is suitable for low concurrency and low sensitivity scenarios such as asset ownership confirmation, transaction transfer and ledger reconciliation. According to the technical characteristics and application scope of blockchain, the people’s Bank of China has explored innovative applications of blockchain in the fields of trade finance, right confirmation transaction and transaction reconciliation, such as trade finance blockchain platform and digital bill trading platform.
As a new form of currency in the digital age, digital currency plays a prominent role in facilitating the people and benefiting the people, international trade and so on. The digitization of legal tender has become the general trend of the world in the future. I believe that next, the application of digital RMB will continue to expand with the promotion of blockchain and other technologies, and the opportunities of relevant industries such as smart contracts will continue to appear, so as to accelerate the construction of digital economy ecology!


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Interim pre-tax profits at clothing retailer Alexon surged yesterday, helped by a strong performance at Alexon and Eastex and a turnaround at discount fashion brand Bay Trading.
Pre-tax profits jumped from £3.9m to £8.5m on sales up by almost 9pc to £182m for the six months ending July 27. The interim dividend is increased by a third to 1.33p, payable on November 27. Bay Trading made a £1.4m interim operating profit, against a £500,000 loss last time.
But Dolcis continues to lose money, despite the management's promises last year that the shoe retailer would become profitable. It made an operating loss of £900,000 for the first half, an improvement on a £1.5m loss for the same time last year. Its like-for-like sales were up nearly 10pc.
John Osborn, Alexon's chief executive, said he is confident about the outlook for the full year, but profits will depend on how well the company trades in the key Christmas selling period. Sales for the first seven weeks of the second half are in line with expectation.
Alexon shares jumped 15.5 to 178.5p.


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The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A, which was introduced earlier in April, has been replaced by the new Xiaomi TV model.
Along with Xiaomi's own Vivid Picture Engine, the smart TV supports DTS:X, Dolby Audio, and PatchWall 4, which is based on Android TV 11. It has a bezel-free HD-Ready display.
Powering the 32-inch Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro is a quad-core Cortex-A55 CPU together with 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of inbuilt storage.
Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro 32-inch price, availability
In India, the 32-inch Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro is priced at Rs 16,999. It is revealed that the new model will soon be available for purchase through offline retailers, Amazon, Flipkart, Mi.com, and Mi Home stores. There is only the Black colour option available.
Customers who use ICICI Bank credit cards and EMI options to purchase the new smart TV can avail a discount of up to Rs 1,500 on Mi.com.
For the records, the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A 32-inch was introduced in India in April this year at a price of Rs 15,499.
Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro 32-inch features
The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro 32-inch boasts an HD-Ready (768 x 1,366 pixels) panel with a 178-degree viewing angle and a 60Hz refresh rate. It runs PatchWall 4, which is based on Android TV 11. Additionally, the display offers 85% of the NTSC colour spectrum and 85% of the DCI-P3 colour range.
Xiaomi's proprietary Vivid Picture Engine (VPE) image processing engine is built into the smart TV and is said to produce excellent colours, considerable depth, and deeper contrasts on the TV panel. With a Mali-G31 MP2 GPU, 1.5GB RAM, and an unknown quad-core Cortex-A55 CPU, the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro 32-inch is capable of a variety of tasks. It has a storage capacity of 8GB.
The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro 32-inch has two HDMI 2.0, two USBs, an AV input, a 3.5mm audio jack, and an Ethernet port for connectivity. The smart TV also supports dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v5.0.
Two speakers on the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro 32-inch produce a total of 24W audio output. The TV also supports DTS Virtual:X and Dolby Audio. It also offers Dolby Atmos pass-through (ARC) and auto-low latency mode (ALLM).
The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Pro 32-inch allows users to cast a screen from an Android or iOS device, just like the company's prior smart TV models. It has Google Assistant preloaded and can be used hands-free. According to Xiaomi, users can access the Google Play store with a large variety of supported apps.


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Burj Dubai Classic Car Show extended to 4 days
Dubai, December 7, 2009
The second edition of the Burj Dubai Classic Car Show in February 2010 has been extended to four days, from February 18 to 21, owing to public demand and stronger participation from classic car lovers in the region.
In its debut in February this year, the Burj Dubai Classic Car Show held at Emaar Boulevard - set to be one of the finest boulevards in the world in Downtown Burj Dubai - brought together thousands of spectators to witness hundreds of classic car collectors from the region showcasing their prized possessions.
Also featuring classic car parades and a competition, it was the first of its kind experience for Dubai.
The excitement generated will continue in the next edition, as Emaar prepares to create a more lavish spectacle of classic cars in the second edition with more participating cars, parades, competitions and attractive lifestyle events that will appeal to all sections of visitors.
The participating classic cars ranged from some turn of the century models to several from the early 1970s. The show provided a glimpse on the evolution of motoring and highlighting humanity’s passion for cars. They offered a distinctive insight into how modern cars evolved, the creativity associated and how even after decades, they continue to excite and enthrall onlookers.
“The timeless quality of classic cars finds its resonance in the design patterns adopted in Downtown Burj Dubai too,” said Ahmad Al Matrooshi, managing director – UAE, Emaar Properties.
Emaar is organising the event with the support of the Automobile & Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE) - a member of the 'Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens' (FIVA), the world-wide authority for historic vehicles.
Downtown Burj Dubai, the flagship mega-project of Emaar, is anchored by Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building. Described as the new heart of the city, the established community features The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination; Souk Al Bahar, a social hotspot featuring modern cafes and theme-shops; The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain; as well as homes and offices.
Emaar Boulevard, which winds through the 500-acre development, has several art showcases already, and will host a series of lifestyle events through the year.-TradeArabia News Service


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Ebay anti-fraud forum becomes stage for hackers
Hackers have posted personal information on 1,200 Ebay customers to an Ebay forum, dedicated, ironically, to fraud prevention.
The information was up for around an hour this morning before Ebay shut the forum down and displayed email details, CVV2 numbers, telephone numbers, home addresses and possibly credit card details to visitors.
Ebay says the information was not acquired through a breach of its security and suggests it was likely obtained through phishing or account takeovers. The company also says that the credit card details displayed do not match those on either its own or PayPals servers.
The auction site is currently trying to contact the users whose details were posted and the Trust and Safety board on which the information was shown has since been reopened.
“Very early this morning, a malicious fraudster posted on the Trust & Safety forum on eBay.com posing as approximately 1,200 eBay users,” the company reports in its blog.
“The fraudster made these posts in a way that was intended to appear as though he logged in with their accounts. The posts contained name and contact information, which appears to be valid.”
“We’re in the process of reaching out by phone to these members so that if the information is valid somehow, regardless how this fraudster acquired the information, these members can take the steps they need to take to protect themselves.”


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Today, maybe every person on this planet is well aware of the story of bitcoin. It came in 2008 with a storm, and now, the whole financial system is under threat because of it. According to reports, many companies and artists have started to sell their products in exchange for bitcoins as a payment method. As per the report, almost 17% of Americans claim a bitcoin investment. Would you certainly be an incredible thing?
Cryptocurrencies have been ever-increasing since their inception, and still, many people believe it to be not a suitable investment. You need to understand that the popularity of bitcoin is just because it is an excellent store of value. The prices keep increasing over time, and therefore, it allows people to make money.
Dominant forces acting in the market on cryptocurrencies can threaten the financial system, which has been in existence for a very long time now. If you are not aware of the story of bitcoin at all, it is the right time for you to understand it because the government of India has also been optimistic about it. They may not favor supporting bitcoin, but they favor crypto coins and their technology. India believes that cryptocurrencies can take any nation towards growth and development. Therefore, it is about to launch its crypto coin, as per the reports of budget statement 2022-23.
Invention of bitcoin
The idea of bitcoin came out in 2008, and it was originated by a person whose name is Satoshi Nakamoto. It is, to date, not confirmed if the inventor of bitcoin is a person or a group of people. The creator of bitcoin is anonymous, and his identity is not yet revealed. The bitcoin author launched a bitcoin with a white paper saying that it will be a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. The whole bitcoin network is connected to bitcoin.org, and the use of the bitcoin network came in 2009. If you are interested in bitcoin trading, visit the homepage of the bitcoin circuit.
The first-ever transaction took place in 2009 by a person named Halle Vinay. He was the first person to use the proof of work system developed by the bitcoin software, and he was the first to download the same. After he downloaded the software, he received ten bitcoins from the creator of bitcoin, whose name was Satoshi Nakamoto. Later that year, a Polish programmer purchased two pizzas from Papa John’s worth 10,000 bitcoins. Back in that time, bitcoins were not highly valuable and, therefore, a payment with many for purchasing a pizza.
After this, many people got to know about this incredible crypto coin, and therefore, they started to show their interest in it. Bitcoin transactions started to take place frequently, and hence, it led to the evolution of different cryptocurrency trading websites. Many people learned about this incredible crypto coin, and hence, the cryptocurrency market evolved. Other cryptocurrencies also originated after the bitcoin only, and therefore, they are not as good as the bitcoins are.
When bitcoin came, its value was just $0.0008, a minimal amount of money. For the entire year, bitcoin just managed to reach a price of $0.8. Well, the condition was not going to remain for a very long period because people got to know more about it. Over the years, the value increased, and the cryptocurrency market spread worldwide. As per the reports of November 2021, the value of bitcoin was standing at $69,000.
It is the highest price for any cryptocurrency ever, and it made bitcoin one of the great coins all over the world. However, the situation in the cryptocurrency market does not remain stable at all times. After reaching the highest price, the prices of bitcoin started to decline. The other cryptocurrency is also followed the same thing, and their prices started to fall. Many complications are created in the cryptocurrency market because people fear investing in crypto coins today.
Bitcoin in future
We can never be sure about the future of bitcoin, but still, we are capable of making assumptions. For example, El Salvador adopted bitcoin in the legal tender, and later on, other countries may also do the same. However, we cannot be sure about this too. People may see the threat coming from bitcoin and will eventually stop using it completely.


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Member Or Not, Facebook Now Tracks All Your Moves
Facebook customers’ ads would now be visible on third-party apps and websites to everyone who has ever visited its website, and not just to users logged into its social networking service.
Facebook said it will serve ads not just on facebook.com and in its mobile apps, but the company now also has a network of third-party websites and apps that it partners with to display ads. It’s called the Audience Network. The new change will impact anyone using the internet regardless of whether they have a Facebook account or not. However, people can opt out of seeing ads on apps and websites not offered by Facebook, based on their ad preferences, the company said.
In a recent Facebook post, Andrew Bosworth, VP, Ads and Business Platform commented, “While more than a hundred companies already serve interest-based advertising on websites and apps today, we offer a better experience because we care about the integrity of Facebook ads.”
He also mentioned,” Ads are reviewed against our standards and to ensure they are as respectful of people’s experience as possible. For example, we don’t permit ads that include sound unless you interact with them and we prohibit deceptive ads and ads for unsafe products and services. We’ve developed technology to determine when someone clicks on an ad on a mobile device by accident, so you don’t get taken to a website or app you didn’t mean to visit.”
According to Bosworth, these ad preferences also help us show you better ads on and off Facebook.
In the first quarter, Facebook generated more than 80 percent of its ad revenue from mobile ads. The company has been rolling out new features on mobile advertising and also encouraging customers to experiment with video advertising.
- Five Key Takeaways From Cisco India Summit 2018
- Have We Learnt A Lesson From Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Crisis?
- Govt Projects To Drive India's Networking Market: IDC
- Smart Digital Media Marketing Without Losing Human Touch
- Adoption of Social Business Models Growing, Says ISG
- Here's A Way To Protect Yourself Against Manipulated 'Fake News'
- Travel Meets Technology To Redefine Customer Experience
- 8 Out Of 10 Most Valuable Brands Are In Tech: Study
- How To Avoid And Mitigate Risk Of Fake News
- 8 Out Of 10 Shopping Apps Have Security Flaws: Report


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Apple shares facial recognition data with apps, sparking privacy worries
Apple's new iPhone X lets people unlock their phones with a scanner that can be set to recognize the user's face, but how the facial data is used by marketers and mobile app developers raises serious privacy concerns, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper found holes in Apple's privacy protections that some may take issue with.
Apple, which has a history of expressing its commitment to user privacy, prohibits developers from selling facial information, using it to identify anonymous people and using it for advertising. Apps also are supposed to make clear why they are accessing facial data and to seek "conspicuous consent" from users.
The Washington Post offers a cautionary, consumer-oriented perspective about facial recognition technology that mobile marketers should consider when incorporating Face ID into their apps.
Apple is putting the new technology into the hands of a mass audience — as the company did with personal computers, graphic user interfaces controlled by a mouse, digital music distribution, smartphones and voice-activated digital assistants, among its long list of innovations.
As the newspaper points out, facial recognition has potential negative consequences like the invasion of privacy, constant surveillance and the potential for machines to make snap judgments about a person's mood, gender, race and sexuality.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had reservations about starting an App Store because of worries about policing the behavior of third-party app developers. The App Store ended up being a billion-dollar idea that transformed the software development industry, improved the functionality of iPhones, transformed the social media industry and solidified consumer loyalty. Whether or not Face ID will have a similar impact remains to be seen.
While Apple designed Face ID to have certain privacy protections, the company still faces challenges in making sure that app developers aren't abusing the facial data.
Long before the days of mobile devices, landline telephones were both a tool to provide instant communication and a major invasion of people's privacy. As telemarketing became a major industry, companies had to determine whether calling people in the middle of dinner was a good business practice. Consumer frustration led to new laws and regulations on the industry, and the same fate may await facial recognition.
- The Washington Post Apple is sharing your face with apps. That’s a new privacy worry.
- The Guardian Steve Jobs resisted third-party apps on iPhone, biography reveals
- Campaign The future of smart billboards


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Published on : Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Princess Cruises has recently announced that it would launch its longest Japan cruise season that would be complete with voyages that include destinations like Tokyo and Kobe that surround the nation in 2018.
Port calls would be conducted to regions like Tokkaichi, Toba, Sakata, Niigata, Iwakuni, Ishinomaki with visits to Vietnam, Hong Kong, Russia, China, Taiwan and also South Korea. Moreover, the voyages would also offer cruise tourists the golden opportunity to explore famous UNESCO World Heritage sites and the opportunities to take part in several cultural festivals as well as other special events.
A total of 36 voyages are open for sale on Diamond Princess that ranges from four to 23 nights, with as many as 38 destinations in seven countries.
The cruise ship season commences in the month of April and continues through December 2018.
Jan Swartz who is the president of Princess Cruises said that they are truly honored to welcome more guests more departures and even visits to leading ports in the year 2018 than ever before. He added that they have decided to enrich the cruise travelling experience through culinary delights and local cultural entertainment options and it would enable them to ensure that their cruise voyage is customized for Japan cruise trips.


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First they disrupted the market, then they were regulated, and now they have the IFISA. It’s time for the peer-to-peer lending sector to embark on the next stage of its journey…
May you be cursed to live in interesting times goes the old Chinese proverb, a timely warning that periods of rapid change may take us to exciting new places but also often involve a pretty bumpy ride along the way. And while not many in the peer-to-peer lending sector would regard themselves or their industry as cursed – rather the opposite in fact – there can be no doubt that the times are interesting, and about to get a whole lot more so.
Thanks to ever-smarter tech, new products like the Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA), new funding models, economic uncertainty and the blurring of the lines between traditional banking, P2P lending and the wider alternative finance community, there are a whole bunch of powerful and unpredictable influences coming to bear on the P2P sector over the next year or two. Just how mainstream can P2P get, without losing sight of the reforming zeal that brought it to life in the first place?
Perhaps the biggest current opportunity for a step change in the way that punters – and the market – regard P2P is the much-vaunted IFISA. The tax-free wrapper has been heralded as the product that will see P2P break away from its DIY investing roots, attracting a whole new raft of customers whose most sophisticated financial purchase until now has been a savings account.
As our IFISA special report in our November issue shows, the potential impact of this product on the P2P industry is immense and yet to be fully realised.
However, a big question hanging over the future, not only of P2P but the entire financial services industry, is the prospect of a serious economic slowdown for the first time in almost a decade.
As P2P sceptics everywhere never lose a chance to point out, the sector as a whole has never been tested by a serious recession. Consequently there are some platforms which are ill-prepared for stormy weather, says Stephen Findlay, founder and chief executive of BondMason.
“P2P hasn’t been through a credit cycle yet, and some of them are struggling even in relatively benign conditions,” he comments. “If people are making loans where 25 per cent are in default already – which some are – then all you can say is that they don’t know what they are doing. But if they have been diligent and cautious and have robust credit assessment and scoring, they will probably be OK.”
Read more: Is the P2P sector prepared for a downturn?
Even if some platforms do fail, anyone expecting a bank-collapse style spectacle will be disappointed, according to Neil Faulkner, managing director of independent P2P analysis firm 4th Way.
“P2P failures will be much less dramatic than bank failures,” he argues. “P2P lenders are not allowed to use your money for anything else, it is not part of the assets of the platform. There is no leverage and no ridiculously complicated products. It’s way, way safer than banks.”
So whatever the doom mongers might say, a P2P bloodbath is far from a foregone conclusion. In fact it’s perfectly possible that it will weather a recession rather better than some more traditional asset classes.
“There is always lots of negative comment about the fact that P2P has never been through a recession,” says Peter Renton, founder of the LendIt conference series. “Once we have, people will see that their P2P portfolio has only gone from six per cent to, say, two per cent returns – that’s a big drop of course but still positive.”
It might also inject a dose of realism into some of the Panglossian predictions that have dogged growth projections and company valuations in the past few years.
“There are good markets and profitable business to be done, but probably not at the growth rates that were assumed initially,” says Andy Davis, author of a pair of influential reports on P2P for the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation. “It’s a hard slog and it takes a long time to get to scale.”
But consumer lenders may be more vulnerable than those in the SME space, he adds. “I suspect that consumer credit conditions will worsen. That market will become challenging for small players. The small business end of the market is inherently more diverse and there are more funding structures.”
Davis argues that in the future, larger P2P platforms will shift towards hybrid models, embarking on balance sheet lending like banks to increase their profitability, although this hypothesis is fiercely contested by some industry figures.
“Banks enjoy extremely cheap funding, if you are trying to compete with a bank and your cost of funding is significantly higher then you are not in the game,” he adds.
To P2P purists, balance sheet lending can look like heresy – the antithesis of what the sector is supposed to be about. But heresy or not, it is inevitable, says LendIt’s Renton – just look at the US market.
“As companies scale, the marketplace model becomes challenging. No-one in the US now is totally committed to the pure marketplace model. I don’t quite understand the commitment to it [the platform model] in the UK. It’s almost religious.
“But you have to be pragmatic – the bottom line is that borrowers are going to be loyal to the best rates, rather than to a particular platform. And a bank’s cost of capital means lower rates.”
Not everyone agrees. Funding Circle is one high-profile dissenter from the hybrid orthodoxy.
RateSetter is another, as head of policy John Battersby explains. “We have a very clear position on this – from the start our focus has been on retail money,” he says.
“So hybrids are not for us. We think there is a big appetite for self-directed investment – one million people will be investing in SIPPS for example. We designed our model with the retail investor in mind right from the start.”
Read more: Platforms develop their own SIPPs
So P2P is being stretched into a new shape by the pull to attract a new breed of mainstream customer, and a shift to more flexible funding models to better service the anticipated demand.
That new shape will inevitably see it losing some of the distinct, DIY identity that made its name in the first place, says BondMason’s Findlay.
“P2P will be integrated into the wider community, it won’t go mainstream in its current form,” he argues. “There will be lots of wrappers to make it simpler for investors.”
So with all that coming down the pipe, perhaps it’s not surprising that the industry’s equity investors are starting to ask that question they always do in the end – when will their P2P investments start to show a profit?
In the US the mood music is changing, says LendIt’s Renton. Having bankrolled growth for some years now, many backers there are starting to press for returns.
“In general, returns to shareholders have not been great,” he explains. “Lending Club is still only at a quarter of its high, OnDeck is even lower.
“What’s changed in the US is that the only ones getting funded in 2017 are those with a pathway to positive cashflow – and not too long a one at that.”
The same tune is likely to start playing shortly on this side of the pond. P2P may be about to enter the equivalent of its difficult teenage years, but the journey is worth it.
Even in the most interesting of times.
This news story featured in the November edition of Peer2Peer Finance News – now available to read online!